Some USB to parallel cables won't work with Apple OS X but this one will. Unfortunately the item's description does not mention OS X at all, but there's no need. Plug it in and it works. Throw the driver CD in the trash; if you have an Apple Mac you don't need to mess with drivers and other annoyances.
It gets better: If you have an Apple AirPort Base Station (Extreme, Express, or Time Capsule) the IOGear cable can be used to connect your printer to your wireless network. Plug it into the base station's USB port and your printer will magically appear in OS X's Print dialog under Bonjour Printers.
Snow Leopard doesn't support Appletalk. Fortunately my Appletalk printers also have parallel ports, so by using this cable I won't have to replace perfectly good printers when I upgrade to OS X 10.6.
Just remember this cable is for printing only. The print function of multifunction printers ought to work but other functions such as scanning probably won't. IOGEAR GUC1284B USB to Parallel Adapter
As mentioned in other reviews, it worked right out of the box! I just purchased that doesn't have parallel ports (none of the new ones do) and was concerned I'd have to scrap my 10-year-old HP LaserJet workhorse (they go on forever). Even the savvy PC mavens who built my computer said I'd have to scrap it. Thanks to few minutes of online research and this wonderful Iogear GUC1284B USB to Parallel Adapter, I'm ecstatic! After agonizing with the joys of the blister package, I plugged the parallel end of the cable to my printer and USB end to my computer -- selected a printer driver in Windows and..amazingly...printed a test page faster than I'm used to with my HP. Though the Iogear comes with a drive disc, it's not needed for Windows 2000 & XP...just "plug & play."
Few solution products have done precisely what they're intended to do without hassle, if they work at all; but this wonderful adapter is perfect...for less than 20 bucks! Highly recommended!
I can confirm G. Bruckno's testimony that this cable works well with Mac OS X, and I thank him for directing his remarks specifically to that issue of compatibility. I had been (quite successfully) using the AsanteTalk Ethernet LocalTalk Bridge with an Apple LaserWriter Select 360 (one of the workhorses among the early printers), but I wanted to see if I could simplify my networking configuration with a USB connection to one of the ports on that old, but still quite, functional printer. My concerns, of course, revolved around the issue of compatibility. Bruckno's comments were the deciding factor encouraging me to buy this particular cable for use on my small Mac network.
With this cable directly connected from a USB port at the rear of a PowerMac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors computer running Tiger (Mac OS 10.4.11) to the parallel port of my LaserWriter Select 360 printer, I was able to successfully print documents with ease. With this cable directly connected from a USB port at the rear of a Power-PC based iMac G5 running Leopard (Mac OS 10.5.8) to the parallel port of the LaserWriter, I also succeeded in printing documents without a problem. (I found through trial and error that merely connecting the cable to a keyboard will not provide sufficient power for reliable printing to occur; you'll need to connect directly to a computer itself or to a powered USB hub.)
However, I was not able to connect or to print documents to this particular printer model when I connected its parallel port to the USB port of my Airport Extreme base station. Mr. Bruckno's remark that "your printer will magically appear in the OS X's Print dialogue under Bonjour Printers" is somewhat misleading in that regard. Only printers that are "bonjour-enabled" will show up in the Print dialogue sub-menu, or under the Default tab of the Print & Fax system preference in Leopard, or in the Printer Setup Utility in Tiger. And only if your printer shows up there will you be able to configure it to be a printer that you can use with Bonjour. Since my LaserWriter Select 360 came on the market about a decade before the Bonjour technology was developed, it lacks the ability to announce itself to the network and to be added as a network printer like more modern, Bonjour-enabled printers can.
Nevertheless, you can still turn your pre-Bonjour printers into networkable machines with the help of this USB-to-parallel cable. All you have to do is connect a USB port from the computer physically closest to your parallel port printer and turn ON the Printer Sharing checkbox of the Sharing system preference of that computer. As long as that computer is turned ON, any other computer on your sub-network will then be able to connect to your pre-Bonjour printer by first going through the computer to which your printer is directly connected by this cable.
Fortunately, to hedge my bet regarding the ability of my printer to be networked only via the Airport Extreme base station through some kind of "magic," I bought a couple of Belkin 10-foot USB cable extenders at the same time that I ordered this cable. You might consider doing that, too, if your nearest computer is more than six feet away from the IOGEAR cable. Now, with this cable directly connecting a USB port of my PowerMac G4 to the parallel port of my shared LaserWriter Select 360 printer, I can indirectly reach the Select 360 to print documents that are created on my iMac G5, or on any other Mac on my network. - Usb Adapter - Parallel - Printer Cable From Usb Port - Printer'
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